The United States has become a nation of trivia seekers. Its government schools boast of the “broad-based” education they provide. In reality this boils down to a cultural intellect that is a mile wide and an inch deep. Many Americans fit the picture. Many others fit a smaller one, and choose to be only an inch wide and an inch deep. One only needs to read the studies and essays to see this trend, The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom, and Dumbing Us Down by John T. Gatto are just two. Or perhaps it would be in the latter class’s league to read the bumper stickers of such, “My kid beat up your honor student.” What a testimony. As David Barton, of WallBuilders, once proclaimed at a conference of his that we went to, after giving us the latest statistics showing the United States’ continuing decline in education, as emphasis is shifted in government schools from academics to “self-esteem”, “American’s may not know much, but they sure are proud of it.”
In this “information age” when our “collective” knowledge has and is increasing at rapid fire rates, yes mom, there are going to be major “gaps” no matter where your child attends school; its just a matter of who’s choosing what those gaps should be. In the late 1900’s knowledge doubled in just a few years, whereas this amount of increase took 500 years in times past. We have the opportunity to learn so much yet many people are choosing to learn so little, just enough to get a job and get by; the rest of their brains are filled with trivial trivia. They know much that means nothing and matters not. Besides, they pseudo-reason, it is trivia that can earn them a million dollars on game shows. If not, their irrelational, dysfunctional, shallow lives could always be the impetus for a new “reality” show. Is this really the culture our society wants to live, and worse yet, wants to pass on to their children?!
Many of us home educate, whether it be our primary reason or a secondary one, because we are among those that see this trend in our nation and desire better for our children – for the future of our country. Whether we are among those that have always pressed higher (deeper) than the above shallowness, or have been there and have come or are coming out of it, we must be careful that our children don’t fall into the same trivial trap.
The internet has been a huge blessing and curse to our society. It has made an overwhelming abundance of information available to us at our fingertips, for FREE! It has also made an overwhelming abundance of perversity and nuisance available. But this isn’t about taking care to protect your children from internet profane sites, or disgusting ads – although I pray you do.
I see another trend in the internet that can be a much more subtle trap, one based upon the first problem I mentioned, a shallow education. Our children could learn so much from the internet, but much of it would be the snippets, perhaps greater stuff than the worthless trivia, but still little pre-digested bits. A little of this, a little of that – snacks rather than full course meals. It is hard to put together a coherent, comprehensive understanding from tidbits; let alone develop a consistent viewpoint.
The same problem found from reading digested, condensed versions, and textbook snippets is found from reading internet digested snippets. Although in-depth information can be found on the internet, I will be so bold as to stand my L.E.D. ground that Real Learning comes from Real Books. An education that is not shallow comes from reading in-depth books. Not even just whole Real Books themselves, but multiple (that is more than one) whole books on the subject, giving us more than one full viewpoint to think upon, reason through, and respond to, to formulate our own thought out, consistent, reasonable viewpoint about – in many areas of life.
Nothing provides Real Learning better than Real Resources. Admittedly, closed in with books alone can create an intelligent but un-relational person. But an education of combined Real Resources can create a rich, deep, “whole” person. Real Resources include: Real People, people who have an interest and passion for something worthwhile and are willing and able to share it; Real Places, places of interest and value that add depth to our lives, not just entertainment; Real Experiences, doing things that have meaning and are productive and creative (not mindless a-musement); and of course, Real Books, the literature, biographies, historical narratives, journals of lives and nature, the “Mashal” as our Lord Jesus taught – parables, proverbs, and metaphors; stories of interest, written by authors of passion, that draw us in, and while telling the story teach us the lessons of life and the way of living, and give us an education of depth. From there we can expand it as broad as we desire, because “of the making of books there is no end.” After all, we live in the information age.
